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How does having a Masters affect your marketability? Are there positions that are inaccessible, or in which there is a bias towards hiring MS graduates? How great is the advantage if so? Does experience still trump education? What colleges and/or specializations would you recommend if you believe that there is an advantage?
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My line of thought dictates that education always have its value and is an investment. Post-graduate studies in particular are highly valued and especially useful if taken from a reputable university. An MS degree (e.g. in Comp.Sci/Comp.Eng field) usually is a must or at least required for advancement if you are in the academe, i.e. in teaching and research positions. I'm speaking generally from my observation in UP where you can teach with a Bachelor's degree but in the long run after a year or so of teaching, you can't advance your teaching position/salary grade until you've earned your MS degree in your field. But that's in the academe (and probably goverment too). In the corporate world however, the picture might be different. If you specialize, some positions in particularly technology-centric, research-oriented (e.g. Google, some biotech corps, etc) companies would probably require or highly-value those with MS degrees in Comp.Sci. Generally, BS+experience is a good enough factor for most companies. IMHO however, the MSCS/MSCompEng route is a route leading more to the academe and less to the corporate world. If you have passion for the academe (teaching, research, etc), then good. If you run for a better career in the corporate world, then you'd probably have to look for companies valuing your degree. An MBA is probably more marketable; or perhaps you'd want something hybrid like Master of Technology Management (MTM) from UP TMC which is a business+technical combo master's program. :D
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I think this is the best reply here, I absolutely agree w/ what you said. I'll add that this is especially true here in the Philippines, where not a lot of IT companies invest in R&D. But if you're planning to pursue a more enterprising career that will involve IT, then maybe an MSCS degree might help. In UP Diliman, there's actually a strong push to use research as a means to come up w/ ideas that can serve as basis for startup companies. |
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I took MS because of the dynamic type of work I have. I work for a company where innovation is not frowned upon. In fact, my immediate supervisor keeps pushing us to bring innovation to make the company run more efficiently. We use Google Apps, we code our own software, we look at fresh research ideas and turn them to working prototypes.. Sometimes innovation is hard to justify for the experienced ones na medyo matanda na but it goes with it. Also, some of the things I learn from mathematical programming could be applied in my work (ie. buying/stocking of consumable supplies such as printer inks).. I would recommend you continue working and take MS as a side dish.. So you get level up in education and experience at the same time.. But if your current company is not that into using new technologies.. You could go with MBA. Some actually say that the things you learn in MBA are more applicable to your work.. If you have the time and the resources, just keep learning..
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The Dado Banatao (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dado_Banatao) once said in talk that he doesn't believe in MBAs, especially in the high technology industry. According to him, what they teach in MBAs, you can learn by yourself. But that' just him, I guess. :p 1
This is also what our visiting prof in tech entrepreneurship told us. And he has an MBA degree and was a former COO of a Fortune 500 company. I think this is the line of thought that is generally carried by the guys from Silicon Valley. But Dr. Dado Banatao can easily say that because he is where is now despite coming from an engineering background, hehe. Some of his Filipino colleagues in the Silicon Valley, though, carry a Business Ad degree. 1
I would like an MBA. Its like MSCS makes you god of technology. MBA makes you god of business.. Lolz. CTO is also a good position to aim for. Hehe. |
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Having a master's degree in the Philippines would definitely give your marketability a boost locally. Aside from that however, think very carefully if you would be able to maximize your degree in your envisioned career path. If you're not in the academe, then you might consider MBA or MS-IT instead of an MS-CS degree. This is because you will be more likely to execute business decisions in the corporate world and would have little use for the geeky concepts you may have learned from your MS-CS. However, if you are in the R&D field, MS-CS would come in handy. But IMO, you're better off learning new stuff in other bodies of knowledge like mathematics (statistics and operations research), actuarial sciences, industrial engineering, electronics, physics and psychology. There are a lot of practical usages of computer science in these fields that you may want to explore. For your day-to-day struggles with software engineering, you should be alright with your knowledge in BS-CS courses such as theory of programming languages, algorithmic complexity and object oriented programming. No need for an MS degree here.
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It seems that your primary concern is increasing your marketability and in this pursuit you are looking into obtaining an MS degree under your belt. Given the above context there are differing points of view coming from your current role: Developer Generally, MS degree has no bearing but years of experience on a given technology, number of experienced technologies, number of project involvements, number of closed project involvements, types of project involvements, number of companies worked for, community recognition (like your increasing participation here at nullpointer.ph and similar dev/tech forum) and certifications count. Project Manager MS in Computer Science/Engineering will have some but minimal impact. MBA or similar management type of studies adds to your marketability. PMI.org's PMP certification would be best at this point in time. I'd agree with Dexter T to have Master in Technology Management from U.P. or similar Technology bundled with Management degrees from the top three universities (UP/Ateneo/La Salle). However, should you find opportunities to gain MS degree abroad, take it. You can make a lot of leverage on it in marketing yourself. Bottomline, highly consider your target role, work out a roadmap on how to get there and you will find the value or no value of MS in Computer Science/Engineering for you.
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what is your purpose for it? to become a better software developer? to be a project manager?
oo nga tama si cruizer. may nakikita ako job openings na programmer pero tumatanggap pa din sya ng may MS degree.
@filchiprogrammer Hmm, "pero"? You mean having an MS (I'm talking about MS in Computer Science here specifically) actually diminishes your value to them? Unusual, but please elaborate.
I think what @filchiprogrammer was saying is that most companies here usually hire bachelor degree holders only. Having an MS usually is both a blessing and a curse... It's a blessing coz you'd get higher compensation, and it's a curse because your boss knows you need to get paid higher (thus looking for cheaper 'alternatives'), reasons why most MS peeps just teach or go to the US and be part of a Startup or a big Silicon Valley Company. Just my opinion.
Aside from the salary expectations, companies will prefer BS graduates with no work experience over MS graduates with no work experience because it's easier to make the former unlearn the unnecessary things they've picked up in college than the latter. Take note that Computer Science != Software Engineering.
@jopes, you must be talking about being overqualified once you have an MS and I totally agree. But wouldn't the same be true of well-seasoned IT pros who happen to be looking for a job?
Actually, this is also my problem. I graduated with a business degree, but I love programming so much. I thought I should get an MS-CS degree to show my potential employers that I can really do programming. But I am still undecided since you guys say that taking MS-CS is only if you are into teaching.